Bernard Pyron

 

Matthew 25:1: "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten
virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

25:2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

25:3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with
them,

25:4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

25:5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and
slept.

25:6 And at midnight a cry was heard:
'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'

25:7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

25:8 And the foolish said to the wise,
'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'

25:9 But the wise answered, saying,
'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you;
but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'

25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came,
And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding;
and the door was shut.

25:11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying,
'Lord, Lord, open to us!'

25:12 But he answered and said,
'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'

25:13 Watch therefore,
for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is
coming."

In verse 5 both the wise and foolish virgins slumbered and slept,
meaning they were not too inspired, not fully awake spiritually.
And in verse 6 at MIDNIGHT the cry was heard that the bridegroom is
coming.

Exodus 12: 29 says "And it came to pass, that at MIDNIGHT the LORD
smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of
Pharoah that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that
was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle."

At about MIDNIGHT Jesus is betrayed by Judas Iscariot and an armed
band sent by the Pharisees. This same night Christ faces his terrible
trials and the darkness of being separated from the Father. In Acts
16: 23-31 Paul and Silas are beaten and then thrown in jail with
their feet in stocks. But at MIDNIGHT in verse 25 Paul and Silas
prayed and sang praises to God. Suddenly there was an earthquake that
broke open the doors of the jail. The keeper of the jail was going to
kill himself when Paul intervened. Then the keeper of the jail asked
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

Midnight in the parable of the ten virgins represents the Tribulation
when God is judging those who claim to belong to him but are off in
theologies and false doctrines. It is a dark time.

But the five wise virgins represent those in the Tribulation who know
what to expect because they have studied end time prophecy and have
come to a knowledge of what is going to happen. They have got end
time prophecy approximately right, while many others
who are in the theologies or who are just lazy with a luke warm
attitude have not arrived at the truth. The wise virgins also know
that the Lord will enable them to serve him even during the dark days
of the Tribulation. In fact, they are inspired by the Holy Spirit to
find joy in serving him during the Tribulation.

At midnight, after they have slumbered some time before, the five wise
virgins woke up spiritually and had enough oil for their journey into
the night to meet their bridegroom. Now at midnight of the
Tribulation, their lights are burning brightly in the darkness.

In verse 6 at midnight a cry was heard that the bridegroom was coming.
The ten virgins were all to go out to meet the bridegroom. He does
not come in to where they are, which might be the church. They must go
out in the night to him. But the five foolish virgins do not have
enough oil in their lamps to do this. The wise virgins have extra
oil. In verse 4 "But the wise took oil in their vessels with their
lamps," meaning they had extra oil to fill their lamps after the oil
in the lamps burned out. Where else could this oil come from but from
the Holy Spirit?

The five wise virgins, by implication, bought enough oil from someone
or someplace to supply their lamps while they went out in the midnight
darkness seeking the bridegroom who was coming for them. Actually, it
was the bridegroom himself who bought and paid for the oil to give to
them. He bought it when he suffered and died on the cross. In verse 9
the wise virgins tell the foolish ones to "...go ye rather to them
that sell, and buy for
yourselves." Of course, no one can buy the annointing of the Holy
Spirit. But in this parable Christ has bought the oil which he will
give to those who are in his truth and give themselves over to him, to
abide in him. This is what is meant by "go ye rather to them that
sell."

Before the wise virgins go out into the night to meet Christ - if
they were the Multitude - they have
already been witnesses to Christ, the bridegroom. If they were the
Multitude they would have already
had his empowerment to prophesy for him, as the two witnesses do in
Revelation 11: 3 and in Revelation 11: 10 they are called two
prophets. They are represented in Revelation 11: 4 as two olive trees
and two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

Some indication of when events occur for the Multitude can be
found in Revelation 8: 13 and Revelation 9: 12. Revelation 8: 13
says "And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of
heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of
the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three
angels, which are yet to sound!"

Revelation 9: 12 then says "One woe is past; and, behold, there come
two woes more hereafter." This is at the end of the Fifth Trumpet.
In Verse 13 the Sixth angel sounded, which marks the start of the
Sixth Trumpet, the second woe. There is one woe to follow the Sixth
Trumpet which is the Seventh Trumpet, or last Trumpet, then the
bridegroom of the parable will come for his bride.

Revelation 11: 14 makes use of this woe, woe, woe sequence in
saying "The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh
quickly." At this point when apparently just after the earthquake of
verse 13 happens, and a tenth part of the city fell while seven
thousand names of men were slain, and the remnant were afraid but
gave glory to God, the time is now past the Sixth Trumpet Judgment
and the Seventh Trumpet, the last trump is to come soon. Paying too
much attention to precise timing and to Seals, Trumpets and Vials may
not be as fruitful as finding out who the players are in various
verses.

In Revelation 11
7-12 the Multitude is killed, as it says by the beast that comes up
out
of the bottomless pit, meaning a false prophet Christian Pharisee type
leader and his followers are inspired by demon spirits. In verse 12
the Multitude, called the Two Prophets, are called into heaven where
they are seen in Revelation 7: 9 standing before the throne and the
Lamb.

So, before the wise virgins in the parable go out to meet the
bridegroom, they have already come out of false doctrines to Christ,
have been given the Holy Spirit and empowered by Christ to prophesy
for him. The parable is a warning and we don't want to take its
interpretation too far beyond that warning to the people represented
by the five foolish virgins. Yet at the time Christ appears the
Multitude has been empowered by Christ to prophesy and have his
light. They have been made white in him and his truth. But the
parable of the Ten Virgins may be about warning those represented by
the Foolish Virgins. I can see why some would say that the Five Wise
Virgins are the 144,000 who remain alive until the Last Trumpet when
Christ appears, and not the Multitude who are all dead by that time.

But in verse 3 they prophesy clothed in sackcloth. In the Bible to
put on sackcloth is to repent of sin. Ezekiel 7: 14-18 says "They
have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the
battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
15. The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within:
he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in
the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
16. But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the
mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one
for his iniquity.
17. All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.
18. They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall
cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all
their heads."

Here God's wrath is upon the Multitude in judgment. Going back to
Zechariah 13: 8-9 again, one third of all who claim to be God's
people, in all the land, will come through a fire and be refined in
it, will call on the Lord and he accepts them. The Two Witnesses of
Revelation 11 are going through the fire of persecution by that other
two thirds of the Church. The Multitude know that they have been
judged by the Lord but because they have repented of what it was that
caused their judgment, they are represented as being in the sackcloth
of repentance. But they have also been given the knowledge, spiritual
power and inspiration from the Holy Spirit to witness to Christ and
to prophecy for him.

In Deuteronomy 32: 36 "For the Lord shall judge his people, and
repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is
gone, and there is non shut up, or left." This means that by the
Seventh Trumpet, the last trump in I Corinthians 15: 52, there are
none of the Multitude left in jail or left alive. They have by then
all been killed. Nevertheless, the Multitude will be at the Wedding
Supper of the Lamb, and so after they came out of their false
theologies into the truth, were given the Holy Spirit and empowered
to prophesy by Christ, they would be within the group of the Wise
Virgins. When they were in false
theologies, they were among the Foolish Virgins.

They have their light from Christ and the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 60: 1-2
says "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord
is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee,
and his glory shall be upon thee."

The same is true for the five wise virgins. The wise virgins go out
into the darkness of midnight Tribulation with their lamps burning
brightly. Physically, in their bodies, they might be somewhat afraid,
but spiritually, they are not afraid of the night and may welcome it
because that night means Christ is at the door and is coming to meet
them. The parable of the ten virgins is a warning to those for whom
the foolish virgins represent.

Daniel 11: 33 "And they that understand among the people shall
instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by
captivity, and by spoil, many days." Its the Multitude, those
instructed by the others who understand, that fall by the sword, by
flame, captivity and spoil. But the Multitude also comes to
understand and then burn brightly with that understanding.

Daniel 12: 3 "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of
the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars
for ever and ever."

Psalm 18: 28 says "For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will
enlighten my darkness."

Psalm 43: 3 tells us "O send out thy light and thy truth: let them
lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy
tabernacles."

Then Isaiah 9: 2 says "The people that walked in darkness have seen a
great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon
them hath the light shined."

Isaiah 58: 8 notes that "Then shall thy light break forth as the
morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy
righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy
rereward."

Micah 7: 8-9 says "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall,
I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto
me.
9. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned
against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he
will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his
righteousness. "

In the New Testament Matthew 5: 16 says "Let your light so shine
before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father
which is in heaven."

II Corinthians 4: 6 says "For God, who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

At the fall of Babylon, which can represent the Christian Church in
false doctrines of Revelation 18: 23, it says "And the light of a
candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the
bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee:
for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy
sorceries
were all nations deceived."

In Revelation 2: 5 Christ warns the Church at Ephesus that "Remember
therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first
works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy
candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."

Candlesticks for each of the seven church represent their light.

Revelation 1: 13 says "And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one
like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and
girt about the paps with a golden girdle." Christ is in the midst of
the seven candlesticks, the light of the seven churches.

In Zechariah 4: 2-6 we see bowls on the tops of seven lamps with pipes
going to each lamp, with two olive trees, one on each side of it. The
olive trees supply oil to the lamps. "And said unto me, What seest
thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold,
with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven
pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
3. And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl,
and the other upon the left side thereof.
4. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying,
What are these, my lord?
5. Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me,
Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
6. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of
the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by
my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."

Zerubbabel came with Ezra and Nehemiah from Babylonian captivity to
rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and the temple and to take part in the
restoration of Israel at that time. God's work is not by might, not by
human flesh, but is always by his Spirit. The patriots think that God
has given them the job of restoring the Republic by might, and have
never read or understood Zechariah 4:6. Or, the patriots believe that
God is indifferent to whether they try to restore the American
Republic or not, and so they think they can restore it by their own
fleshly means, by might.

There are texts in Exodus describing the making of literal lamps to
burn which are symbolic of the coming light of Christ and the Holy
Spirit. See Exodus 25: 37, Exodus 30: 7-8, Exodus 35: 14 and Exodus
39: 37. Bernard